I consider myself incredibly lucky to be living in the UK – the 6th richest country in the world. Though there is some poverty present in some parts of the country, fortunately most people have pretty much everything they need (and more!). Finding a really good meaningful gift could often be a challenge.
By the way, why do we even do gifts for each other in the first place?
In my view, a gift is an expression of love, appreciation and care for someone… In simple words, we do it to make someone feel special and happy. The more heart felt and personal a gift is, the more impact it will have.
I have observed over the years that very often the effect of gifts is rather short-lived. When we get something, it makes us happy for a short while, but then that feeling goes away quite quickly. Even if it’s something very useful and is used by the person every single day, the feeling of excitement and appreciation of this “thing” will probably vanish after the first few occasions on which it has been used. We get used to “having” things so quickly! but most things not only stop making us happy, but also perish after some time. Of course there are some exceptions, like gold and diamonds… but I am talking about more “down to earth gifts here”.
Photographs are different…. First of all, they are there for the lifetime (and even beyond), and they have an amazing ability to evoke emotion… Without fail, when you look at a good photograph that has captured a special moment, you’ll travel back in time and live that emotion again and again. What price tag can you ever put on that? Through photographs we can re-live the happiest times of our lives…
Pictures of children are even more powerful. We put in so much time and effort raising children, looking after them, providing them with everything they need.. and they grow up really fast, too fast… And of course, all we want is to see our children happy. When parents look at pictures of their kids, the whole range of feelings would flow into their hearts: joy, admiration, pride… Is it not it a miracle that I’ve given life to this gorgeous child?
For grandparents it’s even more special to look at the pictures of their grandchildren. They have the time to look at the pictures every day. They would share them with friends, while pride and joy will overflow in their hearts.
God gives gifts to people so that they can enjoy life ( Eccl 3:13 ). Photographs give people a chance to remember the most wonderful moments in life, and live them again and again!